Language as a soft power resource

The case of Azerbaijan

Gulshan Pashayeva
Center for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of
Azerbaijan

The term soft power, developed by Joseph Nye, is a widely popular concept
used to describe efforts to attract rather than coerce as means of persuasion.
Language, which is widely viewed as a traditional (not to say extremely
important) component of nationhood and a symbol of identity and group
consciousness, can be used as an expression of soft power resources within
this context. It is apparent that in today’s globalized world, the role of inter-
national languages as global means of communication has increased consid-
erably. At the same time, English has become the de facto lingua franca in
international trade, academia, technology and many other fields. Against
this background, this article examines the impact of language as a soft
power resource in the case of the Republic of Azerbaijan, which is a multi-
ethnic state located at the crossroads of Europe and Asia. Due to its
geographic location, the constant migrations of people who have passed
through its territory throughout the centuries, and it has long been a zone of
active interaction of languages, cultures and civilizations.

Keywords: soft power, international language, lingua franca, English

language, Russian language

The term soft power has become a widely popular concept. Joseph Nye originally
coined the term in his book Bound to lead: The changing nature of American power
(1990), and he then developed it further in his Soft power: The means to success
in world politics (2004). According to Nye, soft power is the ability to attract and
shape the preferences of others through the impact of one’s own culture, values,
institutions or policies (2004, pp. 6–8). In line with this approach, it is perhaps also
possible to speak about the linguistic dimension of soft power, concentrating on
the communicative, cultural and status potential of one language on another. It is
obvious that from the point of view of the effectiveness of soft power, the commu-
nicative potential of a language is determined not just by the absolute number of
https://doi.org/10.1075/lplp.00016.pas
Language Problems and Language Planning 42:2 (2018), pp. 132–143. issn 0272-2690 | e-issn 1569-9889
© John Benjamins Publishing Company
 Language as a soft power resource 133

people who speak a language, but also by the number of countries in which the
language is popular. Thus, Chinese, for example, would have considerably less soft
power than languages such as English, French and Spanish, which are spoken as
native languages in many countries and often as second or additional languages,
as well as serving as lingua francas. In fact, today:

half of the ten most widely spoken languages in the world are European. Spanish
and Portuguese link Iberia to Latin America, English is the language of the United
States and the far-flung Commonwealth, and there are nearly 50 Francophone
countries who meet at a biannual summit at which they discuss policies and cele-
brate their status as countries having French in common. (Nye, 2004, pp. 75–76)

At the same time, language as a soft power resource also depends on the official or
working status of the language within major international organizations such as
the United Nations and the European Union, not to mention its more general use
in diplomatic relations.
In today’s globalized world, the importance of languages with high degrees
of soft power has increased considerably. English has become the de facto lingua
franca in international trade, academia, technology and other fields. In addition
to English, French, Spanish, Arabic, German, Portuguese, Chinese, Russian and
other languages can also be considered to be international languages. These
languages are also the state languages of several countries: English is an official
language in some 63 countries, French in 34, Spanish in 23, Arabic in 22, and
German and Portuguese in 7 countries each (Baker & Jones, 1998, p. 302). To
put this in context, more than half of the world’s population speaks one of six
languages: Chinese, English, Spanish, Russian, Hindu and Arabic. At the same
time, of the roughly 6,500 languages currently spoken in the world, nearly one
quarter of these languages have fewer than 1,000 speakers (Volodarskaya, 2009,
p. 28). Further, it is obvious that in the contemporary era of globalization, and the
concomitant age of the incredibly rapid development of computer technologies
and the like, to be effective both nations and individuals much make effective use
of language as a primary means of creating, storing and transmitting information.
Moreover, language, as a complex socio-cultural phenomenon that has the poten-
tial to translate soft power into an acceptable form, itself becomes an integral part
of such globalizing forces and largely determines the success of their application.
Finally, “the soft power of a country rests primarily on three resources: its culture
(in places where it is attractive to others), its political values (when it lives up to
them at home and abroad), and its foreign policies (when they are seen as legiti-
mate and having moral authority)” (Nye, 2004, p. 11). Language, of course, is also
widely viewed as a traditional and extremely important component of nationhood
as well as a key symbol of identity and group consciousness. Thus, it is difficult not
134 Gulshan Pashayeva

to agree with Huntington (1996) that the most widely used languages have been
(and continue to be) the languages of empires, which actively encouraged the use
of their language in preference to the languages of other nations (pp. 63–64). It is,
of course, important to remember that knowledge of the language of the empire
also brought significant moral and material benefits, made it easier to obtain a
good education, and created opportunities for rapid socio-cultural development.
Due to the active support of the former colonial powers, the languages of
these countries still retain their political and cultural influence today. English
has a special place in this context among the international languages in part
due to the work of the British Council around the globe (British Council, 2017).
However, the popularity of English is due not only to the legacy of the British
Empire and American dominance in the West after World War II, but also to
the formation of the global economy and the internationalization of trade, acad-
emia and technology, which has required a common operational environment
that includes a common language, with a single language used by most people
in the international arena (or, perhaps more accurately, a small group of inter-
national languages which serve this purpose). French also plays an important
role in international communication, due in part to the Francophonie – Inter-
national Cooperation Organization, which unites some 58 member states and
26 observer countries, which together represent “over one-third of the United
Nations’ member states and account for a population of over 900 million people,
including 274 million French speakers” (International Organisation of La Fran-
cophonie, 2017). There is also the Organization of Ibero-American States for Educa-
tion, Science and Culture (known by its Spanish acronym, OEI), established in
the mid-twentieth century, which has supported the spread of the Spanish and
Portuguese languages around the world. Currently the Ibero-American Commu-
nity includes 22 Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries in Latin America
and the Iberian Peninsula. At the same time the Royal Academy of the Spanish
Language and the Cervantes Institute are pursuing an active language policy
aimed primarily at supporting and developing modern language standards, the
implementation of language training, and the promotion of Spanish and Spanish-
American cultures (Kudeyarova, 2013). Language, as an integral part of national
culture and foreign policy objectives, is also supported in various ways, and to
varying degrees, by both Germany (Zonova, 2012) and Italy (Gromyko, 2013,
p. 11). Russia has also paid close attention to the diplomatic potential of Russian
language and culture, which are considered to be the main engines of Russia’s soft
power, as well as serving as the country’s global ‘brand’, known and recognized by
many millions of people around the world in recent years (Gromyko, 2013, p. 11).
It is in this context that this article seeks to examine the impact of interna-
tional languages as soft power resources in the case of the Republic of Azerbaijan,
 Language as a soft power resource 135

which is a multi-ethnic state located at the crossroads of Europe and Asia. Post-
Soviet Azerbaijan actively manifests itself in the English language space, but the
Russian language continues to be very prevalent in the country. Russian, as the
language of interethnic communication in the Soviet Union, for many years occu-
pied a leading position in Azerbaijan, while due to the lack of direct links between
Azerbaijan and the outside world, English was hardly used outside of the educa-
tional process.

Linguistic space of Azerbaijan: English or Russian?

At the present tune, the Azerbaijani language space is dominated by the Azerbai-
jani language – the mother tongue of ethnic Azerbaijanis (91.6% of the popula-
tion) – which is a state language of the country and the basis for the formation of a
single political (civil) nation (State Statistical Committee of the Republic of Azer-
baijan, 2017). At the same time, given the role of the mother tongue in the process
of ethnic identity, the Azerbaijani state is trying to pursue a harmonious language
policy in order to create conditions for the preservation and development of free
choice and use of the native languages of national minorities and ethnic groups
residing within the territory of the country.
It is well known that education (especially at the secondary level) is one of
the most important elements affecting the formation of the national and cultural
identity of any nation. It is assumed that the choice of languages at school is
frequently determined by the natural desire of parents to provide their children
with better opportunities for their future social and economic growth. Naturally,
in Azerbaijan the main language of instruction is the Azerbaijani language –
in the 2015/2016 academic year, Azerbaijani was the language of education for
92.06% of secondary school students, while 7.65% of pupils were taught in Russian,
0.16% in English and 0.08% in Georgian, 0.04% in Turkish and 0.006% in French
(Pashayeva, 2016, p. 45).
With regard to the teaching and learning of foreign languages, as a reflection
of the expansion of political, economic and humanitarian relations between Azer-
baijan and the outside world, coupled with the presence in the country of a large
number of foreign companies and offices of international organizations, there is a
prevalent opinion in the public consciousness that English proficiency is a deter-
mining factor in ensuring a future high standard of living. Therefore, it is not
surprising that in the 2015/2016 academic year, 85.14% of students studied English
both as a language of education and foreign language in the secondary schools
(in comparison, 34.17% studied Russian both as a language of education and
foreign language while only 3.18% studied French, 2.08% studied German; 0.195%
136 Gulshan Pashayeva

studied Arabic, 0.026% studied Persian, and 0.003% studied Spanish) (Pashayeva,
2016, pp. 45–46). The country’s share of students taught in foreign languages is,
not surprisingly, much higher in higher education. For example, in the 2015/
2016 academic year, 10.6% of undergraduates were trained in Russian and 6.11%
in English, while among master’s students the figures were, respectively, 9.07%
and 16.86% (Ministry of Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan, 2017). At the
same time, future English language teachers constituted 70.5% of students in the
Language Teaching Specialization courses taught in the 2015/2016 academic year
according to the data of the Ministry of Education of Republic of Azerbaijan (for
comparison, future Russian language teachers constituted 13.9%; future French
language teachers constitute 8.3%, future German language teachers constituted
4.8%, future Turkish language teachers constitute 1.9%, future Spanish language
teachers constitute 0.4%, and future Arabic language teachers constituted 0.1%)
(Pashayeva, 2016, p. 46). Polls also show that English is still the most popular
language chosen for study among numerous foreign language courses in Azer-
baijan (Garayeva, 2012).
It is apparent that in Azerbaijan there is an objective need for the active use
of the English language to solve urgent problems in the fields of foreign policy
and the economy, especially with respect to the implementation of oil and gas
projects in the Caspian basin involving major multinational companies, whose
working language is mainly English. As one element of the government’s commit-
ment to meet this challenge to produce more skilled workers with appropriate
language skills, Azerbaijan initiated the State Program on Education of Azerbai-
jani Youth Abroad for the Years 2007–2015, through which 3,558 people were able
to receive higher education in 379 universities in 32 countries. The most popular
overseas academic institutions chosen by the Azerbaijani youth to study under
this program were located in the U.K., while Russian universities were not even
among the top five destinations. Thus, most of the students supported by the
State Program on Education of Azerbaijani Youth Abroad for the Years 2007–2015
have been enrolled in the academic institutions of Great Britain (1,032 people),
Turkey (769 people), Germany (441 people), Canada (241 people) and the Nether-
lands (181 people). (Information on implementation of “State Program on Educa-
tion of Azerbaijani Youth Abroad for the years of 2007–2015,” 2017), In spite of
this, though, it is important to note that Azerbaijan is trying to maintain parity
with respect to the study and use of Russian and English in the education system,
which is apparent in the implementation of parallel projects for intensive study
of English and Russian in a number of pilot schools in the country (Ministry of
Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan, 2013).
At the same time, it is interesting to note that despite the growing practical
interest in learning English, the level of knowledge and, moreover, the degree of
 Language as a soft power resource 137

use of English in the public sphere (including in educational settings) is signifi-

cantly inferior to Russian. This is primarily the result of poor knowledge of the
English language – according to the 2009 census, the number of Azerbaijanis who
are fluent in Russian is some 7.6% of population, which exceeds the percentage of
those who are fluent in English by some 9.5 times (State Statistical Committee of
the Republic of Azerbaijan, 2017). According to the EF English Proficiency Index
(EF EPI) for 2016, which ranks the surveyed 72 countries and territories where
English is not a native language into five proficiency bands, from very high to very
low, Azerbaijan ranks 57th, with a very low proficiency index (46.90), well behind
most other post-Soviet states such as Russia (34th/52.32), Ukraine (41st/50.62) and
Kazakhstan (54th/47.42) (EF English Proficiency Index, 2016, p. 4).
Thus, despite of the popularity of English language in the linguistic space
of Azerbaijan, Russian appears to continue to hold its position in the country
due to its traditional role as either the language of education or as a second
language within the system of secondary and higher education in Soviet Azer-
baijan. In particular, according to USSR-wide censuses conducted in the 1970s
and 1980s, the ratio of Russian-speaking Azerbaijanis was constantly growing:
15.0% (1970), 27.9% (1979) and 31.7% (1989). In the 1989 census, roughly 45% of
the urban population (and 62% of the population of Baku) were fluent Russian
speakers (Guboglo, 1993, p. 63). These figures provide evidence for a widely held
view: “in this period people in many republics of the former Soviet Union who did
not speak Russian were de facto second class citizens. The cultural and linguistic
situation throughout the Soviet Union made it impossible for those who did not
speak Russian to get a good job in state and party institutions” (Pashayeva, 2010,
p. 136). Thus, Russian played the role of a lingua franca in the USSR, and it was
a good knowledge of this language that, to a large extent, gave the individual
access to high quality education and career development. It should also be taken
into account that according to the expectations of the social planners over the
years, “the self-identification through the medium of the mother tongue was
supposed to change into a general appreciation of Russian as the inter-ethnic
vehicle of socialist internalization par excellence…National language – Russian
bilingualism, in its essence, was understood as a transitional stage towards the
development of a new socialist identity which would favour Russian as the only
language of wider communication in the Soviet Union” (Haarmaan, 1991, p. 108).
With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, de-Russification processes took
place to some extent in all countries of the post-Soviet space (with the excep-
tion of Russian Federation itself). The first governments of the successor states
often attempted to take vengeance on the previous prestige status of Russian as
the lingua franca of the USSR, promoting local legislation to recognize native
138 Gulshan Pashayeva

languages as the official media of state discourse and establishing goals for their
preferential social, educational and political use (Smith, 1998, pp. 178–179).
The Republic of Azerbaijan was no exception to this trend, and a number of
language reforms were implemented by the different governments after the re-
establishment of national independence over the years, including: the replace-
ment of the Cyrillic alphabet with the Latin alphabet; the recognition of the
Azerbaijan language as the official state language in the first post-Soviet Consti-
tution of the Republic of Azerbaijan (12 November 1995) (although the Consti-
tution also included state guarantees for the free use and development of other
languages of the Republic’s population (Article 21); and the formal recognition,
by Presidential Decree on August 9, 2001, of August 1 as the official day of the
Azerbaijani alphabet and Azerbaijani language. Following independence, “the
number of parents preferring Azerbaijani to Russian considerably increased and
the number of overall students studying in Azerbaijani school rose” despite the
remaining levels of bilingualism in the country (Pashayeva, 2010, pp. 144–145). At
the same time, it should be also observed that “there has been a shift in the status
of Russian language from being the second language of the country to being a
foreign language of choice” (Mammadov, 2009, p. 70). The Russian language is
currently being taught in around 340 educational institutions in Azerbaijan, and
about 90,000 pupils of schools receive education in Russian, according to the
Minister of Education. An additional 450,000 students are studying the Russian
as a foreign language (Sputnik Azerbaijan, 2016).
Other positive evidence of the status of Russian exists as well. The Baku Slavic
University (BSU), which is one of the leading state educational institutions of
Azerbaijan, was created by the Decree of the President of Republic of Azerbaijan
H. Aliyev on June 13, 2000. It is one of the main universities in the country where
students can obtain a bachelor and master degrees in Russian language and litera-
ture. In 2002, the Russian Cultural and Education Centre The Moscow Auditorium
was opened at this university with the support of the government of the Russian
Federation. Various meetings dedicated to Russian writers and poets, celebrations
of significant events in the Russian culture and history, literary evenings, and
classes in the Russian language, literature and culture for the students majoring
in Russian studies are regularly held at the premises of this Center. Another
university where the students can obtain degrees in Russian language and liter-
ature is Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU, 2018). Baku Branch, which
was opened in Azerbaijan on February 27, 2009. The language of instruction at
this university is Russian, and it carries out its educational mission and activities
according to the curricula and programs of the Lomonosov Moscow State Univer-
sity. Finally, in November 2009, a Russian Book House, first specialized shop in
the post-Soviet space selling Russian and foreign classic and modern literature
 Language as a soft power resource 139

works, reference books, art albums and other publications, opened (Vesti.ru,
2009). Newly released Russian books, pop music and movies are continue to be
popular in Azerbaijan. This demonstrated by the fact that tickets for well known
Russian music and theatre shows are sold out, and there is high demand for their
CDs and DVDs.
Thus, both English and Russian are actively used in post-Soviet Azerbaijan,
and both can be considered to be potential soft power resources. At the same
time, the Turkish language – which has not been discussed in this article – also
has its own influence as a soft power resource in Azerbaijan, due to the special
strategic relationship between Turkey and Azerbaijan, the common ethnic roots
of these two nations, and the close linguistic affinity of the Turkish and Azerbai-
jani languages.

Conclusion

It is extremely important for any modern state to possess a high degree of

linguistic sovereignty to develop and implement a balanced and long-term
language policy in the context of globalization and the competition among world
languages. At the same time, it is clear that “the promotion the learning and
wider use of the Russian language as an integral part of the global culture and as
an instrument of international and inter-ethnic communication” (Foreign Policy
Concept of the Russian Federation, 2016) remains one of the important priority
directions of the Russian foreign policy. Several agencies, such as the Foreign
Ministry, the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Culture, the
Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States, Compatriots
Living Abroad, International Humanitarian Cooperation, and other federal and
regional executive bodies in the Russian Federation have been involved in the
activities to support and promote Russian language abroad, including “ensuring
the active use of the Russian language for inter-ethnic communication within the
Commonwealth of Independent States” (Concept for State Support and Promo-
tion of the Russian Language Abroad, 2015). At the same time, Azerbaijan has
consistently advocated the de-politicization of humanitarian cooperation. This
plays a special role in the strategic partnership with Russia, and is the basis
for the development of positive, mutually beneficial, predictable and stable rela-
tions between two countries (Заявления для прессы по итогам российско-
азербайджанских переговоров, 2013). Therefore, at least in the medium term,
the level of humanitarian cooperation between Azerbaijan and Russia will be
largely determined by the role of the Russian language as the main means of inter-
state, inter-cultural and interpersonal communication (Pashayeva, 2013, p. 131).
140 Gulshan Pashayeva

Interest in the preservation of the Russian language in Azerbaijan is not, however,

confined merely to the sphere of bilateral relations with Russia. It is also, to a large
extent, determined by the role of the language as the de facto language of inter-
ethnic communication within the territory of the former USSR. Russian serves as
an indispensable tool in protecting the national interests of Azerbaijan in the post-
Soviet space, as part of the so-called public diplomacy pursued as part of Azer-
baijan’s foreign policy.
The spread of English in Azerbaijan can be viewed in a remarkably similar
way. As the global lingua franca, English has become a universal and necessary
component of the soft power of any national or international actor, because this
language is no longer considered as solely a native language of the populations of
Great Britain, the U.S. or other countries.
Azerbaijan is now a country that belongs to both East and West, with a
varied cultural and historical heritage, great tourism potential, favourable busi-
ness conditions, and rich traditions of tolerance and hospitality. In this context,
the soft power of international languages should be seen not so much as a poten-
tial channel of influence from a particular state, but rather as a necessary means
that will enable a new generation of Azerbaijanis to integrate into the modern
world and to represent Azerbaijan in the international arena.

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Язык как ресурс мягкой силы: на примере Азербайджана

Аннотация
Введенное Джозефом Наем и в настоящее время широко используемое понятие мягкая
сила представляет собой способ убеждения за счет привлечения, а не принуждения. В
этом контексте, язык, который традиционно рассматривается как важный компонент
государственности, символ идентичности и группового сознания может использоваться
в качестве ресурса мягкой силы. В современном глобализированном мире роль между-
народных языков как универсальных средств коммуникации значительно возросла. В то
же время английский превратился в де-факто лингва франка в международной торговле,
науке, образовании и многих других областях. Исходя из этого, в данной статье рассмат-
ривается влияние языка как ресурса мягкой силы на примере Азербайджанской Респуб-
лики, которая является многоэтническим государством, расположенным на перекрестке
Европы и Азии. Из-за своего географического положения и постоянной миграции на
протяжении столетий, Азербайджан был и остается зоной активного взаимодействия
языков, культур и цивилизаций.

La lingvo kiel molpotenca resurso: La kazo de Azerbajĝano

Resumo
La termino mola potenco, evoluigita de Joseph Nye, estas vaste populara koncepto uzata por
priskribi persvadadon per klopodoj allogi anstataŭ perforti. La lingvo, vaste rigardata kiel
tradicia (kaj cetere ekstreme grava) komponento de nacieco kaj simbolo de identeco kaj grupa
konscio, povas esti uzata kiel esprimilo de molpotencaj resursoj ene de tiu ĉi kunteksto. Estas
 Language as a soft power resource 143

evidente, ke en la hodiaŭa tutmondigita terglobo, la rolo de internaciaj lingvoj kiel tutmondaj

komunikiloj konsiderinde pligrandiĝis. Samtempe la angla fariĝis efektiva lingua franca en
internaciaj komerco, universitata agado, teknologio kaj multaj aliaj kampoj. Kontraŭ tiu fono,
la nuna artikolo ekzamenas la efikon de la lingvo kiel molpotenca resurso en la kazo de la
Respubliko Azerbajĝano, multetna ŝtato lokita ĉe la vojkruciĝo inter Eŭropo kaj Azio. Pro ĝia
geografia situo, daŭraj migradoj de homoj trapasis ĝian teritorion tra la jarcentoj, kaj ĝi jam
longe rolas kiel zono de aktiva interago inter lingvoj, kulturoj kaj civilizoj.

Address for correspondence

Gulshan Pashayeva
53/61 Fizuli Street
Baku AZ1014
Azerbaijan
gulshan_pm@yahoo.com
gulshan.pashayeva@sam.gov.az

Biographical notes

Dr. Gulshan Pashayeva is Deputy Director of the think tank the Center for Strategic Studies
under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan. She graduated from Lomonosov Moscow
State University specializing in Structural and Applied Linguistics in 1983. She completed her
PhD on Theory of Linguistics in 1990 in Baku. She taught at various state and private universities
as well as worked for the United Nations Office in Azerbaijan as National Programme Coor-
dinator for the UN Women (UNIFEM) project Women for Conflict Prevention and Peace-
building in the Caucasus (2001–2006), and as Public Information Associate for the United
Nations Department of Public Information (UNDPI). She was awarded a Fulbright Postdoc-
toral Fellowship and conducted post-doctoral six-month research at the Fletcher School of Law
and Diplomacy of Tufts University in 1998/99. Dr. Pashayeva specialises in conflict resolution
and security studies, as well as gender and language policy. She is the author of more than 100
publications.